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ISOPE-2016The Twenty-sixth (2016) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, Rhodes (Rodos), Greece, June 26–July 2, 2016
MARITIME SAFETY IN THE HIGH NORTH – RISK AND PREPAREDNESS Nataliya A. Marchenko1, Odd J. Borch2, Sergey V. Markov3, Natalia Andreassen2
1Department of Arctic Technology, the University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway 2 Bodø Graduate School of Business, University of Nordland, Bodø, Norway 3Institute of Complex Safety, Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Arkhangelsk, Russia
ABSTRACT In this study, we focus in particular on 3 regions: Norwegian areas around Svalbard, along the coast of mainland Norway and on West- Increasing human activity in the Arctic creates great concern about Russian Arctic in the Barents Sea up to Novaya Zemlya (Fig.1). This possible accidents and their consequences for life and nature. The sector creates the gateway to the Arctic and in the case of global sufficient level of preparedness for emergency cases should be defined warming the development here, especially on Svalbard, will serve as a and secured. On the base of previous assessment of activity level and model for the changing in other regions of the Arctic. Situation which risk matrix and analysis of existing search and rescue resources, the we have now on Svalbard (tourist vessel with 3000 passengers on 80 estimation of preparedness system has been done. Three regions oN, for example) can be repeated on Greenland, North of Canada or (mainland Norway, Svalbard area and Russian part of the Barents Sea) Franz Josef Land or Novaya Zemlya with characteristic problems. are under consideration and comparison. The international That’s why our study can have global perspective and interest. collaboration for safety on the sea is very important in the border area.
KEY WORDS: maritime; safety; risk assessment; preparedness; Arctic; navigation; accident;
INTRODUCTION
The modern development of the Arctic creates a need for understanding of the risk factors, risk mitigating tools, and adequate rescue system capacities in the different area. Safe maritime operations in the High North depend on the risk assessment, preparations and preparedness of the companies involved as well as the government. Activities in the Arctic are challenged by limited infrastructure, long distances and harsh weather conditions. The presented work is the part of MarPART (Maritime preparedness and International Collaboration in the High North) project, where the researchers and responsible for safety organizations of all the countries of Atlantic Sector of the Arctic on the base of activity and risk estimation should find the way of cross-institutional and cross-country partnership (Nord Universitet, 2016). That is especially important on High North with rare population and limited rescue resources. Activity and probability of accidents differ in various parts of the Arctic, due to geographical, economic and historical reasons. Figure 1. Three regions under consideration. Base map is “Norwegian rescue service's area of responsibility” (red lines) (BarentsWatch, 2013). Key ports and rescue centers are shown The paper aims to analyze the rescue system resource capacities. It is number hundred times more than tankers and 10 times more than necessary to discuss the preparedness system considering the volatile refrigerators and loader ships. environment, activity levels and risks assessments done for these three regions of the High North. The article starts with describing main characteristics of the studied regions and risks for consequences from different unwanted events and different types of vessels. Then SAR resource capacity is analyzed for each area. Elaborating on crucial factors which may challenge the system capacities we discuss the main suggestions for improving SAR resource capacity and conclude about needed efforts in the preparedness system development.
THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE STUDIED REGIONS
1) Svalbard region in defined limits has area approximately 850 000 sq.km and only near 2800 population. Natural conditions characterize by long polar day and night; harsh weather with low temperature and wind during all the year and sea ice in the North. There is very small Figure 2. Number of calls on 3 ports for 2012-2015 (Kystverket, 2016) economic activity limited by fishery, tourism and coal mining in Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and Svea (mine has been closed at the end 2015, due to low coal prices). Among navigational difficulties are not sufficient charts, especially on east coast of Svalbard, reduced satellite coverage and sea ice on the North. Coal mining, fishery, tourism and science/education are the main activities on the archipelago. They provide the reasons for marine transport and determine the type of vessels needed, as well as ship traffic patterns. Ship traffic density is rather low compared to that near mainland Norway and has large seasonal variation with summer peak, but the pattern is quite stable from year to year. For example, the number of fishing vessels changes from 10-20 in January-May to 30-40 in June-August, and again to 50- 60 vessels in September-December. 2) The water area of Mainland Northern Norway sector is approximately 800 000 sq.km and nearly 500 000 people leave in the region. Natural features are short period with polar night/day, strong influence of North-Atlantic current and often storms due to polar low. There is a high economic activity, rather equal activities along the region. Except fishery and shipping, oil and gas exploration and exploitation make the face of maritime life. Storms, icing, “Heavy traffic” on most common ship routes and ports are the main navigational Maritime activity is quite stable during the year without big seasonal variation. 3) Russian part of Barents Sea has area 1,400 000 sq.km and coastal Figure 3. The amount of port calls in Hammerfest (Norway) population approximately 700 000 people. Polar night/day long on the (Kystverket, 2016) North and Short on South; polar low; fading North-Atlantic current and strong influence of Arctic; sea ice, coming from Arctic Ocean and via For risk assessment (Marchenko et al., 2015) we defined three main Kara gate are the main natural features of the region. All economic groups of ship: 1) Tourist/Cruise ship; 2) Cargo/tanker petroleum activities concentrate in the South part, cargo shipping and fishery are Rigs/floaters; 3) Fishing vessels and 5 types of events:1) Grounding; 2) complemented by oil/gas exploration in south-east part. The amount of Collision (including sea ice); 3) Fire; 4) Violence/terror and 5) others vessels is quite stable during the year with seasonal increase due in (mostly technical problem on the ship). The combination of ship type summer to Northern Sea Route activity. Depending on weather and ice and events will give us possible variation of accidents, f.i. grounding of conditions, ships sometimes prefer the route north to the Novaya cruise ship (T-G), fire on fishing boat (F-F). Zemlya, rounding Mys Zhelaniya (cape of Desire) to the way via Kara Gate. Respectively in such cases there are some ships in the Northern The accidents statistics, AIS data , analyses of consequences (DNV GL, part of region. 2014b, DNV GL, 2014a, Sysselmannen på Svalbard, 2013, Kystverket, 2016), and expert opinions have been used for risk matrix creation, ACTIVITY LEVEL AND RISK ASSESMENT considering a risk as the amount of harm that can be expected to occur due to a specific event. The risk is then the product of the probability of In (Marchenko et al., 2015) we describe the maritime activity and accidents multiplied by the severity of consequences. We have provide risk assessment matrixes for environment and human beings estimated separately risk for nature and for people. For Svalbard region for these 3 regions. In the recent years the ship traffic in the regions the risk is mostly moderate as for nature and for the people, because the continues to grow, which can be illustrated by the number of calls in low density of ship traffic and low probability of accidents. High risk is the key ports. See Figure 2 and 3 as example. The difference between only estimated for people (passengers and crew) in case of Grounding the amount of ships of various types is so big that only logarithmic and collision of a tourist ship: with low probability, but significant scale allows to show the data in appropriate way. For example, for consequences; and in case of a Fire on tourist and cargo ships: with Hammerfest, passenger, fishing and offshore supply vessels have a call very low probability but serious consequences –.
At the Norwegian mainland coastline, the frequency of grounding and b) fire among fishing and cargo vessels is quite high due to the number of 5 - Frequently vessels and operations almost all year round. There is a quite heavy 4 - Relatively F-G cargo vessel traffic along the coastline, and the probability of frequently grounding is quite high, especially in winter. 3 - Occurs C-G, C-F, T-F As for risk to life, fire on board of tourist and cargo ships is a serious F-F threat, and estimates a high risk. The probability of violent action and 2 – Very Rare T-G terror is extremely low. However, the consequences both for lives and for the environment may be disastrous. 1 – Theoretically C-V, F-V T-V The Russian part of the Barents Sea estimates the highest risk for possible environment in case of collision and fire on fishing ships and in case of minor moderate significant serious grounding and fire on a tourist ship. The high risk for lives is estimated c) for fishing ships in case of collision and fire; for cargo ships – in case 5 - Frequently of collision and for tourist ships- in case of fire. 4 - Relatively T-I C-I F-F The matrixes we refer to are illustrated in the Tables 1 and 2. frequently
Table 1. Risk matrix of consequences for environment in Russian part 3 - Occurs F-G T-G, T-F, F-I of Barents Sea. Red area symbols high risk, yellow – modern, green – 2 – Very Rare C-F F-O C-O, T-V T-O low 1 – Theoretically F-V C-G C-V a)5 - Frequently possible 4 - Relatively F-G minor moderate significant serious frequently 3 - Occurs F-I T-I,T-G, SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR) RESOURCE CAPACITY 2 – Very Rare F-O,F-F T-O, C-O, C-I, T-F, C-F Svalbard Area 1 – Theoretically F-V, C-V, C-G, possible T-V Locating in the heart of Arctic, the main Svalbard town (Fig. 1) - minor moderate significant serious Longyearbyen plays key role in SAR preparedness for the whole b) Western Sector of Arctic. Increasing of activities in high North makes 5 - Frequently this role more important and demands international collaborations. 4 - Relatively F-G Svalbard Governor as a head of police and local authority is responsible frequently for SAR service in the limit of 12 mile zone and coordinate it. Outside 3 - Occurs F-F C-F C-G this limit governor can help with available resources. Governor’s 2 – Very Rare T-F T-G employees work in close cooperation with Longyearbyen Hospital, 1 – Theoretically F-V T-V, C- Coast Guard, Red Cross and Fire service (Sysselmannen på Svalbard, possible V 2013, Sysselmannen på Svalbard, 2010). minor moderate significant serious c) In 2014 significant improvement in SAR preparedness has been done. 5 - Frequently Since April 2014 two large rescue helicopters Super Puma (instead one 4 - Relatively T-I F-F before) are stationed on the islands. One of helicopters has 1 hour frequently emergency time, so it should be in 1 hour in any place inside 140 3 - Occurs F-G C-I T-F, T-G F-I nautical mile zone from Longyearbyen with 5 men crew and eventually nd 2 – Very Rare C-F, F-O T-O, T-V C-O medical or other rescue personal. It can take 20 men on the board. 2 1 – Theoretically F-V C-G, C-V helicopter has 2 hours emergency time. Lufttransport AS delivers possible helicopter service since 1 April 2014. There are 9 fuel depots on Svalbard, Bjørnøya, Hopen for refueling. That increases reachable area minor moderate significant serious significantly. Since September 2014 the new 88 meter long, 1B ice
class rescue vessel “Polarsyssel” insures SAR operation in the area Table 2. Risk matrix of consequences for people in Russian part of during ca. 6 months per year (May-October). “Polarsyssel” has state of Barents Sea the art technology enabling it to engage in rescue and emergency a) situations under extreme Arctic conditions. Coast Guard vessels 5 - Frequently operating in Svalbard area (ice resistant Nordkapp class ships or 4 - Relatively F-G icebreaker KV Svalbard) can be used for SAR, fire service and frequently elimination of oil spills. 3 - Occurs F-I T-I,T-G 2 – Very Rare F-O C-O, C- F-F T-F, C-F The emergence plan in case of environmental pollution was created by I,T-O Governor of Svalbard in 2010 (Sysselmannen på Svalbard, 2010). It 1 – Theoretically C-G F-V,C-V T-V includes all key moments, organizations, necessary actions, summarizes possible resources.
minor moderate significant serious Arctic survival kit Hypothermia is the main issue in case of large disaster in very remote place of the Arctic. Due to long distance, the help can not arrive soon and most likely in emergency case people will need to wait for several
hours. As it is difficult to evacuate many people in distress quickly, calling in students from the University Center in Svalbard (they all pass Longyearbyen Red Cross has created Arctic survival emergency kit for Safety course with first aid) and other skilled volunteers. Longyearbyen 8 persons, that allowed even unexperienced people to keep warm society is very intelligent and enthusiastic, hardened and cohesive in themselves for a long time. 30 such kits, dropped by stationed in harsh environments. Longyearbyen plane DORNIER 228-202K can safe 240 persons, the amount, exceeding the content of average transpolar plane or adventure Mainland Northern Norway cruiser. With cruise speed more than 300 km/h and range more than 1000 km, during 2 hours after getting emergency signal, DORNIER The Norwegian search and rescue service is administrated by the 228-202K can deliver Arctic Survival kits on the distance of 200 km Ministry of Justice and Police. The operational coordination is executed from Longyearbyen and reach f.i. very North of Svalbard, Franz Josef by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centres (JRCC) Southern Norway Land or Northern East of Greenland (Fig. 4). Using stantioned on and Northern Norway (JRCC, 2016). Norway coordinates rescue mainland larger airplane such as Orion with maximum speed 750 km/h operations from the North Pole, along with the Greenwich Meridian to and range 9000 km, during 4 hours Arctic Survival Kits can be the west and to the east up to the coast of Varanger and Russian border. delivered further then North Pole, North of Ellsmere Island in Canada, Northern part of Norway has a wider responsibility area than the North of Taymyr Peninsula and Severnaya Zemlya in Russia. southern, and stretches to the North from 65o north. To manage an effective SAR response, Norwegian national preparedness system consists of services and resources administrated by public agencies, private organizations, and volunteer companies. This service covers sea, land and air rescue for vast areas of Norway and coordinates interaction and cooperation of fairly limited resources. However, the mainland Norway has a better capacity than the Svalbard area. The Joint Rescue Coordination Center Northern Norway is situated in Bodø. 20 local Rescue Coordination Centres (LRS) are placed at the police district headquarters in the mainland Northern Norway. The joint rescue coordination centers are authorized to use all available resources of government agencies (Storting, 1961 - 1962). Therefore, the rescue efforts are closely linked to public health services, the fire brigades, Norwegian Civil Defense, Police, Norwegian Coastal Administration, Air Traffic Service and the Armed Forces. This service is supported by a great number of voluntary and private organizations. The larger operations are headed by police chief officers in Salten (Bodø). The JRCC mobilizes additional personnel - the SAR management team, extra rescue controllers and professional information officers. As for communication and navigation resources, the 2 coastal radio stations of mainland Northern Norway are located in Bodø and Vardø. They maritime distress frequencies and provide communications for emergencies at sea (Ministry of Justice and Police, 2002). Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) in Vardø under the Norwegian Coastal
Figure 4. Area there Arctic Survival Kit can be delivered in 2 and 4 Administration keeps track of vessel movements and provide hours after getting signal. Base map is Arctic Search and Rescue navigational safety in a limited geographical area (The Norwegian Agreement Area of application illustrative map. Material - courtesy of Coastal Administration, 2015). Radars and meteorological sensors, Longyearbyen Red Cross. Automatic Identification System (AIS) and a special reporting system for vessels traffic SafeSeaNet Norway (SSN N), Dynamic Risk Arctic Survival kits are owned, copyrighted by Longyearbyen Red Assessment (DRA) are important tools of VTS service. Also there are Cross (LRC) and located in Longyearbyen Svalbard. It can be delivered resources that are used for navigation purposes in SAR – differential to emergency place by helicopter, plane, ship, snowmobile. It is air GPS, anti-collision system AIS allowing vessels to exchange droppable from long range fixed wing aircraft and was successfully information about their flag, position, speed, course, etc, electronic tested with P-3 Orion and Dornier aircrafts. navigation map ENC, Application Specific Messages (ASM) exchanging safety related data between ships, the VHF data exchange Longyearbyen Red Cross (LRC) emergency equipment with total system VDES (Fjørtoft et al., 2015). In the 1980s JRCC were linked up capacity 400 people includes Field Hospital (1 Surgery room and 4 to international satellite-based emergency communication and alerting Care Units capacity 100 people) and Emergency response unit (Tents systems and accepted additional coordination duties in connection with for 150 people and 30 bags with Arctic survival kit, capacity 240 emergencies in distant ocean areas. Satellite detection of ships uses people). Each of such 30 waterproof bags contains equipment for 8 resources of geostationary satellites, terrestrial communications Survivors : 4 Jerven bags kings size Thermextreme, 2 Sleeping pads, 8 systems and Iridium (DNV GL, 2014c) Bottles of water, 8 Heatpack, 1 Ready heat blanket, 1 Samsplint First- Rescue helicopters are the important lifesaving resource for SAR Aid Pillow. service in the High North. Helicopters Sea King from the №330 Squadron Royal Norwegian Air Force are operated by the Ministry of Svalbard in general is very well equipped, but has very limited human Defense and are well-equipped for all kinds of SAR operations. The resources. It is not possible constantly have a crew for large-scale SAR Sea King helicopters are at constant alert and may be in the air within in small town as Longyearbyen. In worse case (due to seasonal 15 minutes. Their capacity is 9715 kg, 18 passengers or 6 stretchers, migration) it could be ca.20 high qualified in SAR persons. But it case and the maximum flight time of 5 hours. The main base with two Sea of emergency the number can rise till 100-200 owing Red Cross and to King helicopters is in Bodø (Forsvaret, 2016b). In Nordland there are
also one AW139 ambulance helicopter in Brønnøysund (Norsk coast (Forsvaret, 2016a). In addition, Norwegian Sea Rescue Society Luftambulanse, 2013). The AW139 has capacity of 6400 kg, 12 (NSSR) vessels (40 in operation) are ready for SAR missions. passengers, or 2 stretchers (Finmeccanica, 2016). Survival in cold climate is largely dependent on survival equipment on There is also a base in Finnmark county with two Sea King helicopters board of vessels and rescue vessels, aircrafts, helicopters. in Banak. Also there are two EC225 helicopters (owned by Bristow) in Hammerfest and one S-92 helicopter (owned by CHC) based in Russian Part of the Barents Sea Hammerfest (VG, 27.10.2012). SAR forces and resources of the Russian (Eastern) part of the Barents In Troms at the Bardufoss air base there are two Bell-412 from №339 Sea belong to different functional subsystems of Russian State. They Squadron owned by the Ministry of Defense with capacity of 5398 kg include subsystems of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and maximum flight time of 3 hours (4,5 hours with extra fuel tank) (EMERCOM); the Ministry of transport of the Russian Federation; the (https://forsvaret.no/fakta/utstyr/Luft/Bell-412-SP); one AW-139 Border service; the Ministry of defense; the Ministry of natural helicopter of the Royal Norwegian Air Force; and two NH90 resources and ecology and the State Corporation for atomic energy helicopters from the 337 Squadron for the Norwegian Coast Guard with "Rosatom". larger capacity of 10600kg, or 20 passengers or 12 stretchers and EMERCOM ensures the safety of people, an earlier response to maximum flight time of 6 hours. There is also one AW-139 ambulance emergencies in the Arctic zone and covers the whole area of helicopter in Tromsø. responsibility for the security of the Northern Sea Route. It is planned The estimated helicopter coverage for SAR is illustrated on Fig. 5. to organize 10 specialized emergency centers located throughout the coastline of the Russian Arctic. Three of them are located in the eastern part of the Barents Sea - Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Naryan Mar. Each Arctic Safety Center (ASC) has area of responsibility, tasks, forces and means, on the base of existing and foreseeable threats. Arctic SAR system works in a mode of constant readiness and emergency response to any emergency situations or fire. ASC includes a complex of emergency rescue information-analytical centers. ASC is equipped with all-terrain vehicles, universal emergency rescue and fire equipment, located in specialized containers. It makes possible fast loading and delivering of specialized equipment for performance of works on liquidation of consequences of emergency situations of technogenic and natural-technogenic character. EMERCOM of Russia is entrusted with analytical, information and control functions with emergency response in the Eastern part of the Barents Sea. The Ministry of transport of the Russian Federation implements air and space search and rescue operations and ensures transport security, maintain of navigational structures. Russian Transport Ministry created a rescue sub-centre in Arkhangelsk and Maritime rescue and coordination center in Murmansk to control situation in the Eastern part of the Barents Sea. Their SAR resources are tugs – rescue, supply vessels, diving vessels and boats, rescue vessels and motor boats and auxiliary vessels and the new modern rescue vessels of unlimited area of navigation. All rescue coordination centers interact with one another. There are several planes and helicopters belonged to Federal air transport Agency assigned to conduct Search and Rescue mission. Three planes L-410, two planes AN-26, two helicopters Mi-26 and 18 MI-8 are based in Arkhangelsk. Three of these MI-8 helicopters are
constantly on duty. One cargo plane AN-30 equipped with video Figure 5. Estimated SAR coverage (MARINTEK, 2012) monitoring system is in constant readiness in Naryan Mar. Other resources of Naryan Mar base are sixteen helicopters 16 MI-8, and two 2 surveillance aircrafts (F-16 and Orion) are available in Bodø and of them are in constant readiness. There are seven helicopters MI-8 in Andøy (DNV GL, 2014c). Ambulance aircrafts of the Northern Murmansk and two of them are constantly on duty. Norway are based in Kirkenes, Alta, Tromsø, Bodø and Brønnøysund. Federal State Enterprise "Rosmorport", belonged to the Ministry of Hospitals with different capacities are located in Mosjøen, Mo I Rana, transport of the Russian Federation is to ensure the safety of navigation Lofoten, Narvik, Harstad, Stokmarknes, Tromsø, Kirkenes and in water areas of sea ports. “Rosmorport” has a large group of 29 Hammerfest. diesel-powered icebreakers. The icebreaker fleet of Russian Federation The Coastal Guard fleet in the mainland Northern Norway consists of 3 is actively developed and renovated after a long pause now. ice-reinforced offshore patrol vessels of Nordkapp class with helipad The border departments of the FSB of Russia in the Eastern part of the used for northern sea areas - KV Nordkapp, KV Senja and KV Barents Sea consist of the border post "Nagurskoe" on Franz Josef Andenes, 3 offshore patrol vessels of Barents sea class used for oil spill Land. The border guards apart of fulfilling their direct task can provide preparedness and one of them - KV «Sortland» - is additionally assistance in emergency case before the other rescue units will arrive to equipped to take the NATO submarine rescue system on board and can the place of accident. Several patrol ships and boats belonged to function as the Navy’s underwater platform. KV Harstad with advanced Russian Navy can be used for assistance capacity for oil spill preparedness has booms and bigger tank to operate The Ministry of natural resources and environment of the Russian further in the sea and resupply diesel to field stations around Jan Federation implements integrated management in the field of Mayen, Hopen and Svalbard. Smaller vessels of Nornen- and Reine- environment protection and natural resources, coordinating class assist JRCC centers in SAR operations all along the Norwegian environmental activities of various ministries and departments,
industrial enterprises and organizations. The Ministry organizes public strengthened ice class " Zvezdochka " (Fig.8). This is a head from the ecological assessment and widely collaborates with international series consisting of four ships which are being built in Severodvinsk environmental organizations. The Ministry interacts with Federal from 2010. Hydrometeorological service, Federal Agency for water resources, Federal forestry Agency and the Federal Agency for subsoil use. The icebreakers of the Federal state unitary enterprise "Atomflot" is intended to provide icebreaking pilotage along the NSR and in the freezing ports of the Russian Federation. Four nuclear icebreakers, one container vessel and 4 vessels of technological service are based in Murmansk and can be used in emergency case if available. The main focus in marine preparedness in Russia is on the special rescue vessels. The group of the State Marine Rescue Service of Rosmorrechflot, based in the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The fleet is composed of the following emergency rescue ships: the newly built multipurpose salvage vessels of the strengthened ice class "Murman", "Baltika" (asymmetric icebreaker) and "Rescuer of the Kavdeykin". In addition there are raid diving boat "Diver Pechkurov", marine rescue ship "Captain Martishkin", a marine salvage tug “Agat”, non-self-propelled floating crane "SPK-19/35" payload capacity 35 Figure 8. Marine rescuer of Northern fleet “Zvezdochka”. tons, as well as support floating assets (all weather rescue boats, dive (Kuleshov, 2014) boats, booms motorboats and barges). See Figure 6-8 Summary for the studied regions The analyzed SAR resource capacities for the sea regions of Svalbard, mainland Norway and the Russian part of the Barents Sea are consolidated in the Table 3.
Table 3. SAR Features of the regions under considerations Region 1) Svalbard 2) Mainland 3) Russian area Norway Coast Barents Sea Area 850 000 800 000 1,400 000 sq.km Population ca. 2800 ca 500 000 ca. 700 000 ships in the 2 (Jan) -100 1200 – 1400 20-30 (winter area at the (Aug) season) same time 200-300 (summer navigations)
Figure 6. Multipurpose salvage vessel "Baltika". Mar. 3-5 300-400 10-20 (Rosmorrechflot, 2016) accidents per year SAR resources: SAR personal ca. 20 Several Sev.hundred on person thousand duty and sev.thousand can be engaged Volunteers ca. 50 Several the number of person (RC) thousand (RC + volunteers and NSRS) procedure of their involvement is not defined Helicopters 2 2 (SuperPuma) 7 on duty and 30 (SuperPuma +4 (Sea can be engaged. )+1 King)+7 (Other) Planes 1 2 (Orion)+5 1 on duty and 5 Figure 7. Multipurpose salvage vessel "Murman". (Ambulance) can be engaged (Rosmorrechflot, 2016) Vessels 1(Polar 3 (Offshore 2 (rescue syssel)+1(C patrol) +3(Coast icebreakers)+5 For emergency response and assistance to victims at sea in case of oast Guard)+ ca. (Rescue Ships)+ large-scale disasters in addition to these vessels may be involved the Guard)+2 40(small boats) ca. 40(small court of the Arctic rescue center of EMERCOM of Russia (small boats) boats) (Arkhangelsk port), and group disaster rescue force of the Northern RC – Red Cross; NSRS-Norwegian Sea Rescue Society. fleet of Naval Fleet of Russia. Below is a photo of the sea rescuer of the
SUGGESTIONS FOR SAR RESOURCE CAPACITY As it was shown above, Svalbard in general is very well equipped, but IMPROVEMENT has very limited human resources. It is not possible constantly have a crew for large-scale SAR in small town as Longyearbyen. In worse Improvement of SAR resources capacity has been an urgent topic for case (due to seasonal migration) it could be ca.20 high qualified in SAR the and there are several ways to improve resource capacity for the persons and usually it happens in summer, when the maximal amount mainland Northern Norway. The coordination capacity of the civilian of tourists visit Svalbard, and huge tourist ships with 2-3 thousand emergency preparedness system by The Ministry of Justice and Public people on board are in the area. But it case of emergency the Security and Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) was number can rise till 100-200 owing Red Cross and to calling in students assessed recently by the Office of the Auditor General of Norway from the University Center in Svalbard (they all pass Safety course (Riksrevisjonen, 2015). The study shows that the national preparedness with first aid) and other skilled volunteers. Longyearbyen society is system has serious weaknesses in joint efforts from various Norwegian very intelligent and enthusiastic, hardened and cohesive in harsh authorities to improve the system and in evaluating and following-up environments. the organized emergency exercises and other events. The main The good examples of fast mobilization and effective rescue operation recommendations for the authorities are to reinforce monitoring of the are rescue of tourist cruise liners Maxim Gorky, holed by ice in authorities’ work with the national preparedness system, to improve Greenland Sea at 60 nautical miles west of Svalbard in 1989 and coordination and partnership between agencies within the national Heanseatic, grounded in Murchinsonfjorden (Northern fjord of preparedness system, to ensure the learning outcomes out of happened Svalbard), 1997. During these rescue operations, 575 and 145 accidents and organized exercises, and to clarify responsibilities of the passengers (respectively) and large part of the crews had been safely Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the DSB for better practice evacuated in short time, accommodated and treated in Longyearbyen of coordination and partnership (Riksrevisjonen, 2015) Some with warm hospitality. coordination resources should be directed towards better cooperation on Russian Federation has considerable resources in the Barents Sea. The emergency preparedness and development of joint emergency response main places of their dislocation are the ports of Murmansk and concepts based on the principles of shared area-based emergency Arkhangelsk, Arctic Safety Centers, as well as bases of the Northern response resources (DNV GL 2015). Local Rescue Centers have less Fleet of the Russian Navy. resource capacity, which may lead to delays in response; therefore, the The sea area of Barents Sea is 1424 km2. The arrival of rescue forces to coordination should be improved (Fjørtoft et al., 2015). the place of emergency in remote areas of the Barents Sea may occur in As for communication and navigation resources, DNV GL (DNV GL, a few days. Therefore, special importance is the problem of speed of 2014c) suggests the improvement of satellite and navigation systems the decision making about the involvement of rescue forces, including that are used for SAR operations because of their reduced capacity in international, with the exception of formalism when crossing state the north areas. Radio signal is sometimes missing because of long borders and defining international order of financing of expenses on distance between coverage stations, the information value is low implementation of emergency rescue operations and carry emergency because of lack and misinterpretation. Satellite coverage on the preparedness. latitudes of coastal Norway is quite good (DNV GL, 2014c). Outside the radio coverage satellite telephones /Iridium are used. Fjørtoft et al. CONCLUSION (Fjørtoft et al., 2015) also highlight that communication resource capacity can be limited because of lack of knowledge about alarming In this study we have illuminated the development of the activity level procedures, cultural peculiarities among different social groups, in the High North, referred to risk assessments in three sea regions in bureaucracy or language problems with foreign neighbors. The main the High North and analyzed SAR resources for these three regions, suggestions are directed on development of satellite systems, which form a gateway from Atlantic to Arctic. We have showed the procedures and culture for alarming. variations of geographical characteristics,, ship traffic and preparedness Helicopter resources are limited for SAR purposes in the Northern capacities. We have also highlighted the main suggestions for SAR Norway. Picking up people from boats west of Tromsø is challenging capacity improvement. because Sea King helicopters from Banak and Bodo take a long time to In the mainland Northern Norway the traffic levels are quite stable the area (Joint Rescue Coordination Center, 2015). There is a during year (Marchenko et al., 2015) and almost the same amount of suggestion to optimize this preparedness capacity, to enforce capacity accidents is registered along the seasons (Joint Rescue Coordination during winter months when preparedness system is especially Center, 2015). Therefore, the risks of accidents frequency would be vulnerable and to create cooperation connection with standby vessels relatively the same considering seasonality. However, for SAR service from oil installations for refueling helicopters (DNV GL, 2014c) and consequences significance, some variables are crucial. For the Long response time of aircrafts reduce air preparedness capacity. It is region of mainland Northern Norway long distance already west of suggested to improve the availability and SAR equipment on board Tromsø may cause the dynamics of risk assessments. As for navigation (DNV GL, 2014c). area factors communication challenges in alarming procedures and Attempts should also be directed towards determining the actual language closer to Russian border can influence the risk assessments. environmental conditions, enhancing evacuation and rescue means, Taking into consideration the lack of preparedness systems in sea areas developing new rescue equipment that is suitable for tough climate, such as the Svalbard region, the consequences are significant in most cold waters and long distances and new requirements for rescue cases. There is a well-developed emergency system in coastal Norway equipment (DNV GL, 2015). close to the mainland. However, when there are incidents with larger As for medical resources, the capacity can be improved by better ships such as cruise vessels or oil installations the whole system may be involving hospitals in rescue service and by establishing necessary put to a test. In the Svalbard region and Russian part of the Barents Sea, continuous communication and high quality video transmission in order the risk related to both grounding and collision with ice is rather high, to implement telemedicine, the newly discussed method, which but the number of ships is limited. When it comes to fire and terror investigates, monitors, treats and manages patients using the there are severe challenges in all regions for life, especially for remote communication systems that provide access to expertise regardless of areas with severe weather conditions, even though the probability of where the patient and expertise is geographically located (DNV GL, such events are regarded as theoretically low. 2014c). There is a need for more efforts as to capacities, technology
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